Michelle DiGiacomo is an Associate Professor based in Improving Palliative, Aged, and Chronic Care Through Clinical Research and Translation (IMPACCT) within the Faculty of Health.

Her program of research appreciates the contexts within which individuals, families, and communities negotiate, cope, and adjust to living with chronic and life-limiting conditions.

A central focus is the interface of health and social services and carers, the unpaid family or friends who are an integral part of care.

Themes of her research include:
• The financial impact of unpaid caring
• Carer interface with health and social services – interactions and information provision; How do carers navigate these systems?
• Health and wellbeing of carers
• Transitions in carer roles
• Access and appropriateness of care

“These are people who are not paid, but who are very important to our families, communities, and health care systems,” Associate Professor DiGiacomo said.

“Although there are positive aspects to caring, these carers can be impacted negatively by the various challenges they face during and after caring.”

Professor DiGiacomo has extensive experience with qualitative and mixed methods research. An aim of these approaches is to give voice to consumers of care, particularly those in marginalised populations, including people with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. She aims to inform better service design, delivery, and access. This work underscores the importance of striving for inclusive services and interactions and tailoring service initiatives to meet diverse needs and preferences to ensure safe, high quality, culturally appropriate care. She supervises PhD students in these areas as well.

As Course Director in Palliative Care postgraduate coursework degrees, she oversees and teaches into subjects with multidisciplinary health professional students. “I love to see all different types of health professionals get excited about applying what they have learned into practice. They feel great to be better communicating and supporting patients and their carers or families. It’s a satisfying way of translating research skills into practice.”

She has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles around tailoring health services initiatives for diverse communities, the interface of carers and health services, and the experience of patients. She is an Associate Editor for BMC Health Services Research and member of Palliative Care New South Wales and the Australian Association of Gerontology.